For Honor I - Sep 9

In the last few days, ‘For Honor’ has revealed 3 out of 12 heroic characters of their franchise – the Kensei of the samurais, the Raider of the Vikings and the Warden of the knights. Now what?

Firstly, they are the ‘nominate leaders’, the specialists of their team. Each one has their own special weapon. For the Raider, it is the Dane axe. It is really ‘just’ a battle-axe, but extra-large, with an extra-long shaft. As the Raider’s demo shows, the Raider uses his weapon more like a club, I suppose, without any particular finesse, (but then we are talking about the Vikings, who are famous for many things, but not for finesse with their weapons), just smashing and slicing through his enemies at the same time, utilizing both the blade and the shaft of his weapon (the blunt end). He was seen physically manhandling his foes too – unlike his counterparts.

Secondly, there is the Kensei of the samurai. He is probably all about precision; this is what the samurai – at least in fiction – are famous for. He uses the nodachi, or, if you want to use European terms – an oversized sabre, similar, vaguely, to the cavalry sabre used in the U.S. Civil War, as an example. It is a blade with one cutting edge rather than two, and it cannot be used for stabbing, only for slicing. This makes the nodachi (there are several spellings, but this one is the most Western one), different from the longsword of the Knights’ Warden.

More precisely, the longsword is shaped like a crucifix, with two cutting edges and a pointy tip – and a proportionally short handle. It can be used with one hand, unlike the nodachi, which usually requires two, (not sure about the Dane axe). The difference, I suppose, is cosmetic – the Warden is something of a sacred figure, not unlike the Raider, who is claimed to have ‘blood of the gods’ and be a raid leader at the same time, (cannot wait and see how his backstory differs from the Vikings’ Warlord), while the Kensei is more secular, (it’s doubtful that the Kensei’s title of ‘sword saint’ means anything Christian-like in regards to the saint). As it is, apparently we have been shown either the leaders or the specialists of their respective teams – and in interest-provoking style too. Cannot wait and see what will we see next.